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Boulder County to buy mining museum collection, sell farm parcel

By John FryarLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
09/13/2012 02:52:55 PM MDT

Updated:
09/14/2012 04:23:29 PM MDT

Mining drills are seen on a display recently at the Nederland Mining Museum. Boulder County on Thursday approved buying the mining memorabilia, equipment and documents from the museum, with the commissioners saying they showed the important role hard-rock mining played in the county's history. (Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)

BOULDER -- Boulder County will spend $90,000 to purchase hard-rock mining artifacts and will get $540,860 from a farmer who'll be buying a 76.2-acre parcel of county-owned agricultural open space property, under two transactions the Board of County Commissioners approved Thursday.

Boulder County will buy most of the memorabilia, documents and equipment on display inside and outside the Nederland Mining Museum, a collection now owned by the nonprofit Nederland Area Historical Society.

The Boulder County Parks and Open Space Department plans to operate and staff the museum itself, possibly beginning next year, and county officials said it's likely to become the centerpiece of a tour of onetime mines, ore mills and assay facilities the county has acquired over the years.

Nederland Area Historical Society president Kayla Evans stands near a model of the museum on Monday, Aug. 20, at the Nederland Mining Museum. (Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)
(
Matthew Jonas
)

Supporters of the county purchase of the museum collection -- several of whom testified for it at the commissioners' Thursday morning public hearing -- said it would help ensure the preservation of its historic items and making sure they'll be available for view for years to come.

"What you're doing is facilitating the future," said Laurel Higgins, a Black Hawk area resident who, along with her husband, donated many of the mining artifacts now on display at the museum. That equipment was cleared from the former Lump Gulch Placer Tract, a northern Gilpin County property they bought in 2003.

Nederland Mayor Joe Gierlach said the museum, which the historical society opened in 2003 in a one-time county road maintenance equipment garage the society has been leasing from Boulder County, "is a vital part of Boulder County's rich mining history as well as a Nederland community landmark."

Speaking on behalf of the town board, Gierlach said the county's increased presence in the town "will truly be a welcome addition ... It will be a distinguished and worthy partnership for future generations."

A bucket of mining tools is seen on Monday, Aug. 20, at the Nederland Mining Museum. (Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)
(
Matthew Jonas
)

Boulder County will also pay the historical society $20,000 for an easement over a 20-foot-wide strip of historical society property, to give the county better maintenance access to the museum.

Commissioners on Thursday also approved the sale of 76.2 acres of farmland northeast of U.S. Highway 287 and Mineral Road to Jules and Amy Van Thuyne, whose family owns about 375 acres of adjacent agricultural land.

Under the terms of the agreement, which includes a sale of interest in water-ditch rights, the county would retain a conservation easement over the property, prohibiting the Van Thuynes or any future owners from subdividing it or having it annexed into any nearby city or town.

"The property would remain undeveloped and in agricultural use in perpetuity," said Mel Stonebraker, a real estate specialist in the Parks and Open Space Department.

Commissioner Will Toor said that's what the county's vision for the 76-acre parcel had been all along, when Boulder County bought it as part of a larger $1.4 million, 99-acre open-space purchase in 2004.

Toor said that while it may appear the county is getting less per acre than it paid eight years ago, the 2004 purchase price included a consideration that the land could still be privately subdivided and developed, making it worth more on the real estate market..

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